Sensitive and efficient detection of Group B Streptococcus (GBS) colonization in pregnant women is essential for prescription of prophylaxis at the time of delivery as GBS is an opportunistic pathogen known to cause infant mortality. In this report, two studies were conducted on the methods of GBS detection in Shaanxi province, China, a region lacking data for GBS detection and occurrence. For ...

Group B streptococcus (GBS), which commonly colonizes the female genital tract and rectum, can cause infections in newborns with varying severity, possibly leading to death. The aim of the present study was to evaluate Hitchens-Pike-Todd-Hewitt (HPTH) medium performance for GBS screening in pregnant women. A descriptive analytical cross-sectional study was performed with 556 pregnant women, of ...

Three commercial chromogenic agar media were evaluated for Streptococcus agalactiae screening in 200 vaginal swabs from pregnant women. The sensitivity and specificity were 94.3% and 100% for Granada medium (bioMérieux), 100% and 90.3% for Brilliance GBS medium (Thermo Fisher Scientific), and 100% and 98.8% for ChromID STRB medium (bioMérieux), respectively.

Maternal vaginal colonization with group B streptococcus (GBS) is a major risk factor for invasive GBS infection in newborns. The CDC-recommended method for detecting GBS colonization is to culture vaginal and rectal swabs in a selective broth followed by subculture on blood agar or a selective medium. A high incidence of antimicrobial resistance in the fecal microflora can compromise the recov...

In their recent article Overman et al. (5) present data on the sensitivity of Granada agar (7). These data are similar to those presented by the same authors in a poster with the same title (D. D. Eley, S. B. Overman, B. E. Jacobs, and J. A. Ribes, Abstr. 100th Gen. Meet. Am. Soc. Microbiol., abstr. C-238, 2000). In the poster they reported a sensitivity of 60% and in the article they reported ...

Background and Aims: Group B streptococcus (GBS) may cause neonatal infection during and or after the delivery, and is the leading cause of sepsis, bacteremia, pneumonia and meningitis. The virulence factors are carried by both capsule and surface proteins by which serotypes and genotypes are determined. However, some genotypes are believed to be related in severity of neonatal diseases, theref...

BACKGROUND Maternal vaginal colonisation with Group B Streptococcus (GBS, Streptococcus agalactiae) at the time of delivery can cause vertical transmission to the neonate. GBS is the leading cause of sepsis, meningitis and pneumonia in the infants. Asymptomatic colonisation of the vagina with GBS varies with the geographical location. METHODS This was a cross-sectional study conducted in 2009...

BACKGROUND Group B streptococci (GBS), or Streptococcus agalactiae, are the leading bacterial cause of meningitis and bacterial sepsis in newborns. Here we compared different culture media for GBS detection and we compared the occurrence of different genotypes and serotypes of GBS isolates from the vagina and rectum. METHODS Streptococcus agalactiae was cultured separately from both rectum an...

The Granada agar plate (GAP; Biomedics SL, Madrid, Spain) was evaluated for the detection of group B streptococci (GBS) in urine specimens from pregnant women submitted for testing for asymptomatic bacteriuria and was compared with blood agar (BA [Columbia agar with 5% sheep blood]; bioMérieux, Marcy l'Etoile, France). The GAP detected 103 out of 105 GBS, whereas BA detected only 50. Use of the...

Objective(s) Rapid tests for detection of Streptococcus agalactiae or Group B Streptococci (GBS) at the onset of labor are needed to permit early intrapartum antibiotic prophylaxis. This study aimed to evaluate the PCR assays targeting the 16S ribosomal RNA gene (16S rDNA) for detection of the GBS in comparison with a specific culture method. Materials and Methods Two swabs were used to obta...